Fixing a club that enters the sand too far behind the ball

What is actually happening

On a greenside splash shot the club never touches the ball: the sand carries it out. Entering several inches too far behind means moving far more sand than the swing has the speed to move, so the ball travels a fraction of the intended distance.

The fix

Drills

Work through them in order. Each one says what it needs before you start.

1. 1

   Line in the sand

   In a practice bunker, draw a line in the sand at right angles to the target line and stand with the line opposite the middle of your stance. Without a ball, make ten swings that enter the sand exactly on the line and throw a shallow slice of sand forward, moving along the line for fresh sand each time. A cut that starts on the line, or no more than a finger's width behind it, is a pass. When eight of ten pass, set a ball an inch or two in front of the line for each swing and hit ten, still looking at the line. Success is seven of the ten on the green with every cut starting at the line. Then smooth the sand and pick the spot by eye.

   Needs nothing but a club

2. 2

   Sand onto the green

   Stand in a practice bunker a few paces from the edge of the green, with no ball. Draw a short line and make a swing that enters on it and throws the sand up and out. A club going in well behind the line moves a heavy clump that barely leaves the bunker, while one going in at the line sprays sand onto the green. Make ten swings, stepping along for fresh sand each time. Success is sand landing on the green from eight of them. Then alternate one swing with sand only and one with a ball set an inch or two in front of the line, until ten balls in a row land on the green with their sand.

   Needs nothing but a club

3. 3

   One spot, three distances

   Mark three landing spots on the green with tees or towels: near, middle and far. For every ball, draw a line an inch or two behind it and keep your eyes on the line. Change only the length of the swing, shortest for the near spot and longest for the far one, with the finish always at least as long as the backswing. Hit three balls to each spot and do three rounds. Success is every ball landing nearer its own spot than either of the others, with every cut starting at its line. When that holds, play the spots in a random order, one ball each, without drawing lines.

   Needs Tees or towels to mark three landing spots

Browse every drill on the site

Checkpoints

What to look for to know whether the change has taken.

• Before raking, the cut starts an inch or two behind the hollow where the ball sat, not a hand's width or more back.
• The cut is shallow and carries on past where the ball sat, rather than a trench that stops beneath it.
• Sand from the shot lands on the green along with the ball.
• A face-on photo of your address shows the ball a little forward of the middle of your stance and your hands about level with it.
• You hold a balanced finish with your chest facing the target, rather than stopping in the sand or falling back.

Feels

A feel is not a description of what the club does. It is whatever gets your body to do it, and a correct change usually feels exaggerated long before it looks correct.

• The ball is sitting on a thin slice of sand, and you are throwing the whole slice onto the green.
• Your eyes stay on a spot just behind the ball, and the ball is a passenger on the sand.
• The club cuts a shallow saucer out of the sand, not a trench.

Symptoms that lead here

Each of these can resolve to this cause. If the page above does not match what you are seeing, start from the symptom instead and let the questions narrow it.

• The ball won't come out of the bunkerIt takes two or three swings to escape: the ball moves a few feet in a spray of sand, or comes out low, hits the face and rolls back to your feet.The usual cause of this
• Taking too much sand in the bunkerThe club goes into the sand well behind the ball and throws up a big pile of it, and the ball pops up weakly and often stays in the bunker.The usual cause of this
• The long bunker shot, 30 to 80 yards from the sandFrom a bunker well short of the green, the normal splash can never reach the flag, and trying to pick the ball clean sends it over the green or into the lip.The usual cause of this
• Plugged lie or fried egg in the bunkerThe ball has buried itself where it landed, sitting in its own crater with part or all of it below the sand, and your normal bunker shot either leaves it there or sends it out low and hot.The usual cause of this
• Bunker shots finish short or run way pastGetting out is no longer the problem: the ball leaves the bunker every time but finishes nowhere near the hole, dying on the fringe or racing off the back of the green.The usual cause of this
• Sloping lies in a bunkerThe ball sits on an upslope, a downslope, or above or below your feet in the sand, and the shot that works from a flat bunker lie comes out fat, thin or well off line.

What this rests on

• 40+ TrackMan Parameters ExplainedTrackMan, accessed 2026
• The Physics of GolfTheodore P. Jorgensen, University of Nebraska, 1999, second edition; Springer reprint 2013

Discussion

Golfers who have worked on this fault, on what helped and what did not. Read it as experience rather than evidence.